Photo Review: Wavves and Ganglians at the Ottobar

Photos by Chrissy

The busted California lo-fi pop of Wavves blasted ears here in Baltimore on Wednesday, and brought with them the extra fine Sacramento-based Ganglians. Two complimentary but very different sounds serenaded the Ottobar, and you can read on for Chrissy's full photo set and some more wordage a la me.

A small gathering got there early enough to witness Ganglians, which is a shame because these guys were the real deal. Having put Monster Head Room on heavy rotation, I was expecting warped Beach Boys melodies and limited but generous amounts of reverb. What I got, was a whole onslaught of songs not on that album... that all rocked. There was a ton more garage influence, a ton more reverb, and the songs were all pretty incredible. Look for more good stuff from these young'uns to come.

Wavves has a new drummer, and holy crap is he better than the prior dude. I don't blame Nathan for throwing glass bottles on stage (or whatever) at the last guy, because Zach Hill is quite possibly the biggest upgrade of all time. Dude belongs in a talented hardcore band, as he conquered his basic kit with mad diligence. Zach completely stole the show, and tracks played off of Wavves' debut were amped up heavily with his presence.

While there were no outbreaks worthy of the jerks at Pitchfork getting all hot and bothered for, Nathan Williams did manage to piss off the sound guy enough for him to ditch the booth after the second song. The Wavves frontman was persistent in getting him to turn everything up to the maximum, with splintered ear drums already in full effect. With Nathan's guitar volume fully cranked and abusive amounts of reverb in use, it was tough to hear the vocals throughout the set. Luckily, vocals are certainly not the highlight of Wavves anyways.

All in all it was a solid show, and I'm stoked to hear whats to come from both acts.